Saturday, March 5, 2016

Ron Gardenhire, Certain Way - 28

Originally published Nov. 6, 2013; Updated 2016

When Ron Gardenhire was named as manager of the Minnesota Twins in early 2002, The New York Times wrote that Gardenhire just might get the dubious distinction of being named manager and then never managing a game.

That
was because Gardenhire was named amid the contraction controversy, with
the Twins set to be one of two teams to be eliminated. Gardenhire,
though, told The Times he was just happy to have the job.

"I'll take it any way I can get it," Gardenhire told The Times. "There's not many jobs out there managing in the major leagues."

Gardenhire
eventually did get to take the field with the Twins, the club soon
saved from elimination. And, far from being a footnote as a no-manage
manager, Gardenhire hasn't left the field.

Gardenhire has remained the manager of the Twins for 12 seasons since, and he continued as manager of the Twins through 2014. In that time, Gardenhire managed in nearly 2000 games.

And,
though he hasn't gotten the Twins to a World Series, Gardenhire has
taken the team to six division titles, including titles in each of his
first three seasons. He also won the 2010 league Manager of the Year award.

Gardenhire's career in baseball began in 1979, taken by the Mets in the sixth round of the draft, out of the University of Texas.

With the Mets, Gardenhire made AA Jackson in 1980, then AAA Tidewater in 1981. In September 1981, he made the majors.

It was with the Twins then that Gardenhire got his start in coaching. He managed 1988 at single-A Kenosha, then 1989 and 1990 at AA Orlando.

Gardenhire
then made the jump to Minnesota, as third base coach, just in time for
the Twins' run to the 1991 championship. Gardenhire then coached under
Tom Kelly for the next decade. Then, for 2002, Gardenhire took over Minnesota's top job upon Kelly's resignation.

In his first season, Gardenhire's Twins advanced to the American League Championship Series, where they lost to the Angels.

"He was a loyal employee," Ryan told The Times. "He had worked with and developed many of our
young players in the minors. He understood our organization, our
philosophy, our budget, what we are about. He understood the community
and its relationship to this team. He obviously understands the game and
knows how to motivate players."

In his first nine seasons as Twins manager, Gardenhire's Twins finished no lower than third place and finished first six times. His
teams fell on harder times in later years, finishing fifth
twice and fourth in 2013.

"As a manager, your job is to get the most out of a team and the
players," Gardenhire told Yahoo!. "Put them in positions they can be successful
and make it a comfortable atmosphere with some semblance of consistency
and an idea we do things a certain way here."